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Market research has been said to be part science and part art form. However, a balance must be struck between these two influences. To make sure your study does not become a failed science experiment or a botched piece of art, a healthy dose of experience and knowledge in market research is required. This is where Quorus Consulting can step in.

Quantitative Research: Surveys

Most decision makers are familiar with the concept of a survey – what it generally looks like and what purpose it serves. However, overlooking small details can have a huge impact on the integrity of a study. Far too many decision makers are not intimately familiar with such things as the science of sampling, the hazards of the various biases that can creep into any study, and advanced analytical techniques. In fact, the process of crafting the questions themselves is fraught with all sorts of pitfalls. For instance, basic question wording, use of open-ended questions, the importance of randomized statements, the length of the survey itself, the selection of one answer scale over another – all of these will have an impact on how the respondent answers and ultimately how the results should be interpreted…and we haven’t even broached the data collection medium!

The surge in online research has many debating its virtues and its limitations in comparison to more traditional telephone and self-complete / mail surveys. And where do intercept surveys fit in? Needless to say, how the data is collected is as important a consideration as who is targeted for the study and which questions are asked.

The team at Quorus Consulting has over 15 years of experience designing and administering quantitative research studies on behalf of private, public and not-for-profit clients. Let us work with your team as you plan your next quantitative research study – we can take care of everything from methodology formulation to the presentation of the final results.

Contact Rick via e-mail or call (613) 837-4064 to brainstorm a research project you are considering or to submit an RFP.

Qualitative Research: Focus Groups

Focus groups remain one of the most popular techniques in opinion research. The idea of convening a small group of customers, voters, teens or whatever may be your audience of interest, in the same room and having them openly discuss key dimensions of your product, service or policy is a very powerful proposition. While focus groups can be a tremendous opportunity for insight exploration, it is only by working with experienced qualitative researchers that you can extract the maximum value from this approach. Are you inviting the right types and number of participants in each session? Are you conducting too few (or too many!) groups for a given project? Are you effectively using visual and audio stimuli? What kind of drill-down techniques are in your moderation guide? Should you be doing one-on-one interviews, dyads, or triads instead? Is your moderator up to snuff? Should you even be doing focus groups to get at the answers you need? These are just some of the many quality control questions you should be asking yourself before each focus group project you undertake. You should also be using these types of questions to help you evaluate research firms you have worked with in the past.

Quorus Consulting can be your single point of contact for all your full-service focus group projects. Whether you are considering evaluating a billboard with youth in Toronto or conducting website usability with young parents in Whitehorse, Quorus Consulting is your focus group one-stop shop. We’ll make sure you are using the right methodology, we’ll design your moderation guide, we’ll moderate all your sessions (French and English!) and we’ll deliver an insightful report. Through our proven network of focus group recruitment and facility service providers, we’ll also take care of all aspects of participant recruitment, catering, and facility coordination.

Working with Quorus Consulting for your focus groups allows you to focus on what requires your undivided attention above all – let us take care of the rest!

Contact Rick via e-mail or call (613) 837-4064 to brainstorm a research project you are considering or to submit an RFP.

One-on-One Interviewing

Research assignments and program evaluations often require one-on-one interviews with key decision-makers, influencers, customers / end-users or employees. The objective of these interviews is to elicit the opinions of respondents through open-ended questioning and drill-downs. Unless enough are conducted in one project, results from this type of research should not be used for quantitative analysis. As well, the interviewing scripts are more often than not used as guides rather than as rigid questionnaires typically used for surveys. Given their free flowing nature, one-on-one interviews require an experienced researcher asking the questions – one who knows how to make the most out of the limited time the respondent has allowed us to have.

If you are considering one-on-one interviews, Quorus Consulting can make sure your special respondents are speaking with an experienced researcher and given the attention they deserve, whether they are C-suite executives, members of Parliament or consumers dealing with a sensitive issue. We’ll custom-schedule all the interviews, we’ll design your interview guide, we’ll conduct all the interviews, French and English, and we’ll deliver an insightful report. If your team needs to view some of the interviews, we can coordinate a convenient facility with a one-way mirror using our proven network of focus group facility service providers.

For your one-on-one interviews, you’ll get one-on-one service from Quorus Consulting!

Contact Rick via e-mail or call (613) 837-4064 to brainstorm a research project you are considering or to submit an RFP.